1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color simulation system for performing a simulation to check a hair color that is expected as a result of application of hair color preparations to the original hair of a client, prior to a hair coloring operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an increasing number of people enjoy having their hair colored in desired colors that coordinate with the colors of their makeup or clothes. When hair coloring is performed, however, the resultant hair color is different from the color of a hair color preparation used for the hair coloring, because the resultant color greatly depends on the general characteristics of the hair such as the thickness and hardness of the hair, and the original color of the hair before the hair coloring.
At a beauty salon, a hair stylist normally provides counseling to each client before a hair coloring operation, so as to minimize the difference between the color desired by the client and the resultant color expected from experience by the hair stylist. However, hair colors one would picture in mind are very subjective and are very hard to put into words. To counter this problem, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 204138 of 1997 discloses a device that shows the images of estimated hair colors to a hair stylist and his/her client, so that the hair stylist can provide smooth counseling based on the estimated images.
Meanwhile, a method called “hair color mixing” has been becoming popular recently in response to various consumer demands for hair colors. According to the hair color mixing method, two different hair color preparations are mixed and then applied to hair. By this method, however, it is even more difficult to color the hair of a client as desired, than in the conventional case where only one hair color preparation is used. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully and accurately provide counseling so as to reduce the difference between the resultant color desired by the client and the resultant color expected by the hair stylist.
In the case of a hair coloring operation to be performed by the hair color mixing method, however, there has not been a suitable technique developed for providing smooth counseling to a client so as to clearly show the client the resultant hair color expected by the hair stylist.